Extraordinary
by Spazzmistic
Summary: [AU][MxR, more pairings inside] Roy, fifteen and going through high school, meets a boy in his art class who is able to take his breath away. Angst, humour, and adoration ensue... contains shounenai, shoujoai, fluff, and eventual yaoi
1. Chapter 1: Routine

A/N: Hello everyone! This is the first time I'm bringing EO (actually... any story) to I've been lurking around for a while, and I've had my account for a while as well... I just didn't have anything to post until now! ;; I have this story on Deviantart as well, and I'm just trying to spread the story throughout the Marroy fanbase (I know you're out there... xD), so I hope you enjoy this! It's not even shounen-ai right now, really... but it will be soon...

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**"Extraordinary."**

MarthxRoy, LinkxZelda, more to come...

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"**IT'S JUST** another day. The same repetitive classes, the same faces, the same sounds..." A red-haired, blue-eyed boy thought to himself, dumping a few thick, hardcover textbooks into the bottom of his locker. He crouched, organizing the books that he had just carelessly tossed into his locker, with his dark-red messenger bag resting on the floor in front of him. He stood up after deciding that his textbooks were suitably organized and started shuffling through the multitude of different coloured sheets of paper that were all shoved into the cubby hole at the top of the locker. Upon finding the piece of paper he was looking for- a pale yellow one with information about a local concert he was going to attend- he folded it into quarters and slipped it into the back pocket of his ripped and worn blue jeans. He crouched again, double checking that he had everything he needed for his morning classes, and was suddenly blinded by darkness as a pair of cool hands covered his eyes, pressing every so slightly into his cheekbones.

"Same morning routine carried out by my stupid friend." he thought to himself as a high-pitched voice, making a futile attempt to imitate that of a female, piped into his ear. "Royyyyyskieeeeees! Guess whooooooooo!"

"Link, you do this EVERY morning."

"Link? Who is this dashing-sounding young man you speak of?"

"Oh, he's my dorky friend." The 'dashing young man' in question removed his hands from their place over Roy's eyes.

"Am I really a dork, Royskies?" Link asked, his voice dripping with innocence as he pouted at his flame-haired friend.

"Stop calling me that! ... and don't you give me that look. You know it doesn't get you anywhere." Roy answered, glaring into Link's blue eyes.

"But you don't mind when _Lilina_ calls you that... and you can't resist when _Lilina_ pouts at you..." Link said, smiling and batting his blonde eyelashes.

"That's... that's different! She's my girlfriend! She gets... privileges!"

"But I'm you best friend! You know, been there since grade six! Don't I get a share of these privileges? ... and there was that time last year during the spring break party when you were nuzzled against me on the couch..." The blonde's comment elicited a gasp from Roy, and he flushed slightly. He answered Link in a hushed tone, glancing around at the students walking past them, looking paranoid.

"You said that you would never mention that again! And I was... MILDLY drunk! Therefore, it doesn't count! Plus, you shouldn't talk you drama queen; I distinctly recall a hot pink feather boa and LOTS of glittery blue eyeshadow you put on for that audition during the summer. And oh, why were you dressed like that? Because you were auditioning for the part of a GIRL."

Link grinned at him, seemingly unfazed. "Bring that up again and I'll personally shave your hair off." He said through his grin.

"If you do that, I'll return the favour by burning yours off." Roy retorted, matching Link's grin.

The redhead slipped the strap of his bag over his head and onto his shoulder, standing up and kicking his locker door shut with such force that the mirror that clung to the door flung off into the depths of Roy's locker. He disregarded the echoing "clunk" that came from inside his now-locked locker and turned to walk to class with Link.

"Royyyyy-skieeeeeees!" The redhead and the blonde both heard the shrill call from behind them before they could even walk two feet from Roy's locker. Both boys turned around, Link watching with a smirk as Roy was practically tackled by his blue-haired girlfriend. "G'Morning, Lilyyy..." Roy muttered, sliding one arm around Lilina's waist and using his free hand to stroke her hair. She detached herself from her boyfriend's torso and gave him a light kiss. "Morning!" She chirped, taking Roy's hand and falling into place between him and Link, as usual. "Morning, Lina," Link said absent-mindedly, trying to avoid colliding with the train of people heading the opposite direction. "Hi, Link! Oh, hey, did you finish the Philosophy homework from last night?"

"Not all of it..." The blonde said, narrowly dodging a full-frontal crash with a boy with a slender build, who, upon further investigation, had short, blue hair as well. Link paid him no additional attention however, just a quiet mumble of "Excuse me," before continuing on.

"Yeah, I skipped a few questions too," Lilina said, raising one hand to flip her hair behind her shoulder. "I had no idea what Teller was trying to explain yesterday anyway..."

"I'm sure he'll explain it again during class today, so you don't need to worry about it that much."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Lilina glanced at her watch quickly. "There are still ten minutes before first bell; where should we go to kill some time?"

"I have to go to the cafeteria," Roy answered. "Lance is waiting for me there; I have to give him this," He said, withdrawing the pale yellow paper from his back pocket and showing it to Lilina.

"Alright then, we can just stay there for a bit until the first bell rings." Lilina now clung to Roy's arm as he seemed to find the easiest paths through the oncoming traffic of people; Link followed them closely so as not to lose them in the crowd.

Eventually, all three of them pushed through the doors and headed into the cafeteria, which was slightly less crowded than the numerous hallways they were just forced to pass through. Roy immediately spotted Lance, whose green hair was easy to find as it stood out against the sea of brown and black surrounding him. Still holding Lilina's hand, and Link trailing along beside him, he weaved his way through the long tables and randomly placed chairs and finally took a seat next to Lance. Lilina sat beside Roy, and Link sat across from them, immediately engaging in a conversation with his friend Sheik. "Laaaaance," Roy said, tapping the green-haired boy on the shoulder and causing him to look up from his sketchbook. "Oh, hey Roy, didn't notice you..."

"No problem. Oh- here's the info about the concert." Roy handed him the paper after unfolding it quickly.

"Thanks," Lance said, quickly skimming over it. "You going for sure?"

"Yeah, my dad's fine with it as long as I'm with at least two other people."

"I'm guessing Link is coming too, then?"

"Yeah, and Lily if her dad let's her."

"I'm still getting a maybe right now," Lilina said, entering the conversation suddenly. Lance gave her a quick nod and continued talking to Roy, discussing the bands on the roster. Lilina quietly reviewed her English notes, leaning on Roy's shoulder. Link and Sheik had engaged themselves in a quick game of blackjack. "Whoever gets best out of nine gets the other to do all their homework tonight." Sheik said, dealing out four cards; two to Link and two to himself. "Deal," Link agreed, taking a peek at the underside of his cards.

"Hit me," Link decided, and Sheik slid another card over to him. Link peeked at his new card in the same manner, smiling inwardly to himself.

"I'll stay," Sheik said quietly, looking pensive.

"So will I," As Link said that, he turned over his cards, revealing a score of nineteen. Sheik mirrored his movement and uncovered his score of a perfect twenty-one. "Ugh, I have a bad feeling about this now..." Link said, sliding his trio of cards back over to Sheik, who shuffled the deck again. "Eight more rounds to go," Sheik grinned at him and dealt the next hand. The next eight rounds were pretty much the same routine, with Sheik on a winning streak and Link on the opposite. After the ninth round, Sheik had won eight times and Link had won once. Link looked up at his friend with defeat. "... please tell me you don't have any hard subjects this semester."

"Does advanced chemistry count?" Sheik looked up at Link to see him wince, and couldn't help smiling slyly at him. "And I have photography as well, but I'll let you off the hook with that one; those pictures need to be taken by me, anyway," Sheik's smile turned into a grin. "Did I mention that my model is Zelda?"

"WHAT?!" Link shouted in surprise, leaping out of his seat. "SHEIK COME ON LET ME TAKE THE PICTURES! PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE!?"

Sheik just laughed at Link, flipping the bangs that covered his right eye out of the way, only to have them slip back into his line of vision again. "You don't know what the requirements for the assignments are, anyway!"

"SO? YOU COULD TELL ME OR GIVE ME AND OUTLINE OR SOMETHING! PLEASE SHEIK PLEASE!!" Link over at Sheik, his eyes desperately pleading that his answer granted his wish. Sheik continued laughing, now noticing all the people who were staring at him like he was insane. "Okay, okay," Sheik said through his fit of laughter. "I'll tell you what. You can come along to the shoot and ogle Zelda all you like. But you still have to do my homework." He said, his laughter finally dying down. "DEAL!" Link shouted happily, hugging Sheik, who was struggling to get out of his hold. "THANK YOU SHEIK!!" He shouted again, letting go of his thin friend and beaming like he just won the lottery. "Yeah, yeah..." The blonde boy on the receiving end of Link's gratitude massaged his neck absentmindedly; the painful feeling of Link's strangling hug still remained.

The low ringing of first bell resounded against the orange cafeteria walls as well as through the hallways, signalling that all students had a mere seven minutes before first period began. Immediately, students began filing out of the cafeteria and joining the two-way queue in the halls. Lilina recollected her English notes, standing up and letting Roy's arm slip around her shoulder. "Shall I treat you to lunch today, Lily?" Roy asked, looking down at the girl walking beside him.

"Only if you want to, Royskies."

Roy leaned down, kissing Lilina on her cheek. "Then I will." He flashed a smile- the smile that always made the blue-haired girl blush deeply; this time was no exception. Lily smiled back weakly. The couple neared the cafeteria doors and split apart from each other. "I'll see you at lunch, right?" Lilina said, filing out with the line of people heading down the east corridor. "As always, Lily." Roy said as he winked at his girlfriend before they both turned to attend class.."


	2. Chapter 2: The Boy

**ROY SAUNTERED** into his first period class, already donning a bored and tired look. He took his seat in the far-left area of the classroom, taking a moment to stare out the clear window next to him at the skyline. He thought briefly for a moment how beautiful it looked and how hard it would be to paint. The morning fog diluted the sharp lines of the city buildings, and the blue sky made the tips of the skyscrapers look like they were just dipped in a translucent sky-coloured paint. The sun crept up those same buildings as it rose over the horizon, colouring the bottom half of the buildings with a golden colour. He slipped his bag off and set it at the leg of his desk, next to his chair, and folded his arms only to rest his head on them, sliding his chair backward to get more comfortable.

"Good morning, class!" Roy's chipper English teacher, Ms. Fouler, chirped as she entered the room. There was a scattered, monotone mutter of a 'good morning' from the class in reply. Ms. Fouler proceeded to set her bags down behind her desk and slip off her coat, which she slung over the back of her chair. She straightened herself out, took a breath, and started to recite a full-blown lecture about the messages found in Macbeth. Roy's thoughts wandered to the fact that his teacher was never one to beat around the bush and always got right to the point of everything she ever taught or said to him. His train of thought continued to ones of how he looked forward to his two classes after lunch, as they always managed to be fun no matter what they were doing- or _supposed_ to be doing; ones of a perfect hue he found in the sky that matched Lily's hair; and ones that wondered if there was anyone else in the entire school that had blue hair. He was derailed when his teacher threw a question about revenge at him for him to answer, and at that, he sat up straight and responded confidently. This was how his day began.

Once English class finally ended- in which Roy had somehow gotten into a heated argument about incest- he moved with the crowd towards his science class, where he "participated" in a lab. Sheik seemed to be handling the entire experiment fine by himself, Roy decided, and his assumption was confirmed when Sheik refused help from his lab partner when it was offered. When he was supposed to be recording temperatures of the murky liquid contained in a beaker, he was actually burning random pieces of scrap paper over the Bunsen burner at their lab table. After a full period of doing next to nothing, Roy helped Sheik clear the table, collected his things, and left class to go to lunch.

A floor down and a few hallways away from his science class, Roy spun the combination into his lock, trading his English and Science books for his sketchbook, camera, and guitar. He stood up from rustling through the papers stuck behind the front cover of his sketchbook for a particular sheet of music that he had to practice for his music test he had next period- just in case he needed it- and shut his locker again.

The flame-haired teen went down the stairs to the first floor and entered the cafeteria, greeted by the loud, constant chattering of the students inside. He walked over to the table he and his friends always sat at and took a seat across from Lilina, next to Link.

"Hey Royskies…" Lilina said, looking up from the book she was reading.

"Roy! Will you play that song for me? The one we're going to get tested on next period?" The blonde boy said, turning to face Roy, bearing a hopeful expression.

"Yeah, sure… are you _sure_ you're not going to fuck up and ruin the marks for the both of us?"

Link rolled his eyes and nodded. "I just want to make sure I have the beat down pat, that's all."

"You're freaking out too much about this, you know…" Roy commented, placing his guitar on the table, unzipping the case, and withdrawing it. "Do you want me to give you an intro?" He asked, placing his guitar on his lap and reaching into his pocket for a pick.

"Nope, just start from the beginning." Link replied, holding his drumsticks at the ready.

"Alright, on three, then, starting from the part where the drums come in…"

Roy began strumming the guitar line from _Gold Lion_ by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Link supplied a soft rendition of the drum line on his thighs with his drumsticks and feet. Sheik, while finishing off the last of his English essay, began to sing along without realizing it. Lilina watched with a soft smile as they all carried out the timing, pitch, and rhythm of the song without any mistakes.

"You guys are so cute." Lilina said as they finished, grinning over at the three boys across the lunch table.

"Eh? That was… random?" Link said as he slipped his drumsticks back into his backpack.

"I know, but… I don't know… you're all such good friends and all… so when you work together, it's even cuter."

Roy smirked at her comment, chuckling softly. He started to play the tabs to another song, softly singing the lyrics to himself. Lilina sighed softly, watching Roy for a moment before getting up again and putting the book she was holding back into her bag. "Sorry guys, but I have to get into class early today. I promised my math teacher that I'd help him organize the desks and papers for our test. I'll catch you later, okay?" She leaned over, giving Roy a peck on his cheek, which he returned with a smile as Lily left to go to her class.

"Boy, she's really a teacher's pet, isn't she?" Link said, once Lilina had left.

"Yeah… but she's a hard worker, and really considerate…" Roy replied, starting to play Green Day's _Macy's Day Parade_ softly as he spoke.

"But doesn't it get annoying sometimes? Like, remember last Thursday? When she couldn't go out with you because she had to go home and finish her assignment?"

"… well… she wanted to be finished early…"

"Yeah, like, a month early. And even after that she wouldn't go out with her because she had plans with her friends."

"Okay, okay. So she's a little more… proper than we are."

"_Proper? _

She's anal."

"Shut up, Link. It's probably just a phase."

"You'd like to think so."

"Link, I said shut up. Go busy yourself with your girlfriend."

"What? Link has a girlfriend?" Another voice said suddenly, higher and smoother than any boys' voice that they knew. They both looked up at the newcomer, and Roy heard Link choking momentarily. "Ah… hi… hi Zelda…" Was all he managed to stutter before succumbing to his shy self.

"Hey." She replied, stealing one of the Poptarts that Link was eating. "So. You have a girlfriend? My little Link is growing up."

"Oh… um… no… Roy was talking about… my uh, other… friend."

"Aah, so your soon-to-be girlfriend." Zelda laughed as Link grew impossibly redder. "Okay, okay, I'll stop poking fun at you."

"Zel," Sheik said, entering the conversation suddenly. "What time are we meeting after school for the shoot?"

"Hmm," Zelda chewed on the piece of Poptart she'd just put into her mouth, swallowing a while later. "I have volleyball after school today, so… around three thirty, maybe? Where are we headed, Sheik?"

"To that old cemetery down the road."

"Mhmm, perfect. I just need to stop by my house first to grab that dress you wanted me to wear… you can drop your stuff off there if you like."

"Alright," Sheik said finally, throwing a knowing glance at the still-flushed Link, who was now staring over at Sheik's photography model. "Anyway… We've got like, two minutes to get to class, so… I'm going to head over to vocal… I'll see you later Link, Roy."

"Later, Sheik," Roy said, looking up at the boy momentarily and nodding his farewell. Roy stood up and put his guitar back in its case, slinging his bag over his shoulder again. "Link, we should go to music now, too. Zelda, you walking over to photography with us?"

"Eh, why not, it's in the same direction anyway… c'mon Link, don't just sit there. You'll make us late for class."

"What? I- oh. Sorry." Link stood up abruptly, almost knocking his chair over in the process.

The three of them began walking down the west corridor that led away from the cafeteria. Roy always made sure that he sandwiched Link in between himself and Zelda so that the two blondes had a higher percentage of actually conversing with each other. There were scattered, random beginnings of conversation thrown around as the trio turned a corner, headed to the art department.

"Well, anyway, I'm just saying… that everyone _does_ have that side to them; it's just that certain people flaunt it more than others." Zelda ended her short rant about evil and good in people with a confident nod, agreeing with herself. She stopped in front of her classroom and turned to head inside. "I'll catch up with you guys after school or something. If not… I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye, Zelda." The two boys said in unison as they continued to their classroom that was three doors down the hall.

They both wandered into their class, immediately hit with a string of melodies, all originating from different instruments- guitars, flutes, bass guitars, clarinets- all playing different tunes and songs, doing some last-minute practicing for their upcoming test.

"Link… you really have to start relaxing around Zelda. No one's going to go out with someone to doesn't say or do anything but blush all day."

Link sat down at the drumset in the corner of the classroom. He removed his bag and took his drumsticks out, sighing. "I know… but she's just _so_ amazing and pretty… and… and… _calm_… _collected_… and I—"

"Whoa, whoa. Link. Calm your hormones. I already have a girlfriend; you don't need to sell me yours."

"Fft. You'd be better off with Zel anyway."

"… I swear to God I will shove this guitar up your ass if you say anything like that again…"

"Whatever does it for ya."

Roy let out a frustrated groan before sitting down on a bench, not far from his best friend, and checking to make sure that his guitar was still in tune. After all, you could never be overly prepared for a music test, especially one with this specific teacher, who found the absolutely _smallest_ things to nitpick on.

A few minutes later, Mr. Trebalti walked into the classroom, and the roar of instruments slowly died down into silence. The music teacher eyed his class in an almost scrutinizing fashion. "Alright. The test today… will go down in alphabetical order. I don't care which partner comes first, so if your last name starts with a "T", and your partner, whose last name starts with a "B", is called down, you're coming too, got it? No arguing. … let's begin."

There were about seven couples to perform in front of Mr. Trebalti before Link and Roy were called up to play their piece, which went incredibly smoothly on both their parts.

"Yesssss. Full marks for the deadly duo!" Link said, grinning.

"… deadly duo? When did you make _that_ our nickname?" Roy replied, packing up his guitar.

"About four seconds ago."

"Aaaand why would I want to affiliate myself with you?"

"Because… I love you that way, of course!" The blonde accentuated his comment by hugging Roy loosely around his neck.

"Okay, okay," Roy said, patting Link's arm softly. "There, there, Rinku."

"Whaaaat! You don't even hug me back anymore, Roy!? What is this?! It's blasphemy! Betrayal! You don't love me anymo-- … did you just call me Rinku?"

"… maybe…"

"Awwwww! I love it when you call me that! You **do** love me!!"

"Link, you're getting overly fluffy now."

"You're my best friend. I have the right to be fluffy with you. You just won't let me be fluffy with you because you have a girlfriend… it's not cheating if your friend is a guy! … unless… you're gay, Royskies?"

"Because I would be going out with a member of the opposite sex if I was attracted to guys."

"It could totally be a cover up!"

"Oh, drop it, already, Rinku."

The two friends left their music class together and said their goodbyes before splitting apart at the same staircase they always did. Roy headed up one floor to his art class, which was the class he had been looking forward to the most the entire day. The redhead entered his classroom and sat down at his usual seat- or in this case, a stool- and but his bag on the table. He sighed softly, folding his arms and resting his head on them as he did at the beginning of the day. More and more of his classmates filed into the classroom, most of them uttering greetings at Roy as they passed; some of them even took the time to have a small conversation with him.

"Hey! Hey! Roooooy! Come on, you can't sleep this class off, I'll get lonely!" Roy looked up just in time for his flame-like hair to get ruffled by an unexpected hand. "Come on come on, up and at 'em!"

"Ugh… come on, Pit… I was up late last night…"

"What, talking to Lilina?" The pepped up brunette sat beside his usual spot beside the redhead, grinning over at his friend.

"Why is everyone stuck on the topic of Lily today anyway? Is everyone having a mutiny against me or something?"

"No… well… just, if I still had a girlfriend, I would be talking to her all the time, too…"

"… Pit, come on now, keep your head up. You'll find someone else- someone better- than that airhead you were dating before…"

"But you never know that for sure… "

"… I know I don't. But… I don't know, I just have a feeling you will. Everyone has a person that they've been waiting their entire life to meet, you know. That's what I believe, anyway…" Roy withdrew his sketchbook from his bag without taking his eyes off the brunette sitting next to him.

"Yeah, I know… but… it just doesn't feel like it sometimes, you know?"

"I know it doesn't… but the rule still applies!"

Pit smiled softy, nodding, and then mimicking his friend's movements, removing his own sketchbook and opening it to a blank page.

The entire art class had to wait an additional ten minutes before their teacher entered the class. Ms. Valyko was of average build; not very fat and not very skinny, and short, as she came up to Roy's shoulder when they stood next to each other. Her hair was boy-short and jet black, usually pinned back on the left side with a barrette that was different every day. This was all the same, as she was usually late. But today was different, as she was being escorted by a teenage boy.

"Sorry, guys. I left all my paperwork in my car and I have handouts to give you that I needed, so I had to go out to my car to get them." Ms. Valyko had made her way over to her desk and was now frantically trying to get as organized as she could before her class started getting impatient, which was not very long considering her students. The boy stopped following his teacher midway between the door and her desk and was now standing in front of the chalkboard, waiting patiently for his teacher to introduce him. He shook his head slightly to clear a piece of his hair out of his eye and Roy noticed how much of a contrast his pale skin was against the blackboard. His clear azure eyes were almost the same shade as his hair if not a tad lighter, and they were darting around the classroom at all of the students that were sitting in the room, facing him.

This boy had blue hair that came up to his shoulders and bangs that just graced his eyelids. He towered over the art professor- which wasn't saying much considering her height- and was slender and trim. He wore an almost icy expression; void of any emotion. He didn't look nervous, or scared, or excited… just blank. Roy remembered wondering if there was anyone else in the school with blue hair during English class and now he had his answer. The boy's features were set evenly and almost perfectly on his face, like they would be placed on a treasured porcelain doll. Roy stared at the blue-haired teen, catching his eye a few times as when he glanced over in Roy's direction. The redhead's thoughts started to wander; he wondered exactly who this boy was and where he came from, why looked so stern, if his hair was as soft and smelled as good as Lilina's, and how beautiful he looked when his eyes were downcast and his fair-skinned face was framed by his short blue hair.

Roy straightened out and suddenly bore a puzzled expression, which mirrored his inner confusion. Had he really just thought that, so easily, and so calmly? He had a girlfriend, and he wasn't attracted to men… but he still couldn't deny his own thoughts. Roy sighed heavily and blamed that particular deranged pensive moment on lack of sleep, burying his face into his folded arms.

"Guys, I'd like to introduce a new addition to our class." Ms. Valyko began, taking a spot beside the object of Roy's confusion. "His name is Marth Lowell. He dropped the automotive course to join into this course, so show him the _good_ side of this art class, alright? … hmm… Marth, there's an empty seat behind Roy and Pit over there, so sit down and get comfortable. … It's the redhead and the brunette on the left side there." The art teacher droned on without taking her eyes off of the papers in her hands.

Marth, without a word, took the seat that Ms. Valyko had suggested to him. He removed his navy blue messenger bag and placed it on the desk in front of him like must of the other students in his class had done. Pit was nice enough to turn around and utter a "nice to meet you", which was returned with a slight, almost nonexistent smile and a nod. Roy didn't even bother to turn around, as he was slightly afraid that looking at the boy would cause his rampant thoughts to return.

"Okay guys, I told you on Monday that you were going to get an assignment before the end of this week, so I'm going to give it to you now. It will be completed in couples- which _I_ am going to choose so that the conflict we faced last time does not reoccur. Here's looking at you, Ms. Toadstool."

"Miss, I already apologized for that like _so_ many times! It won't happen like… ever again, kay?"

"That remains to be seen. Continuing on… this piece of art will be collaboration. It will be an in-studio assignment and should be started and completed here at school. I'll let you take it home if you _really_ need to, but that would mean that you'd have to somehow make it over to your partners' house or vice versa, and things get complicated and messy. I'm just trying to make it easier on you guys, you know. Anyway, it will be a completely creative piece and will study various ways to distort a figure. Think of it as one big, refined doodle that is done by two different people."

There were excited comments exchanged between students as they anxiously waited to be assigned their partners. No student in the class would _really_ care who they were coupled with, as they were all very close to each other, but everyone had their preferences.

"Hm… alright. Peach, you'll be paired with Samus. Mario, you'll be paired with your brother…" Ms. Valyko continued on, pairing everyone with someone else until they all had a partner. "Oh, Marth… hm… sorry, Pit, but I'm going to have to pair him up with Roy."

"That's okay, Miss. I get enough of that kid every day anyway." The brunette retorted.

"Now that that's set… you and your partner will be working on this piece at the same time. Yes, you heard me. At the same time. Meaning, both of you will be painting or drawing or… whatever… at the _exact_ same time. You can draw anything you like, and it doesn't matter if your partner disagrees with what you're drawing. The things you draw do not have to harmonize in any fashion. It is supposed to be both deranged and dream-like, alright? I'll hand out the papers, so re-arrange yourselves so that you're all sitting beside your partners."

The art class began shuffling around to switch seats with each other. Pit moved to the other side of the classroom to sit with his partner Kafei. Roy sighed and swore to himself that he wouldn't let his thoughts return to him. But when he turned around and saw Marth staring back at him, he couldn't help but feel slightly light headed. Roy wasn't certain why he had feelings towards the blue-haired boy. He was certain that it most definitely wasn't love, as he told him this over and over again. He loved Lilina, his girlfriend; she was perfect for him… wasn't she?

"Um… so…" Roy began, desperately trying not to look directly into Marth's intimidating azure eyes. He felt himself blush and he felt his skin heat up considerably.

"What medium are you going to start with?"  
"Oh… probably acrylic…"

"Alright… then I'll start with pastel to balance the boldness…"

Roy nodded and went to the art storage room to retrieve acrylic paint and a box of chalk pastels. He returned to his partner and handed him the box. When he got a whiff of the cologne the blue-haired boy was wearing, Roy felt light-headed and dizzy for a moment. He swayed to the right slightly, but caught himself before he could hurt himself.

"… are you okay… ?"  
"Yeah. I'm… I'm fine. I think it must be lack of sleep or something." Roy sat down on one of the art stools before he could _actually_ fall down, watching as Marth applied the first stroke of chalk pastel to the black bristol board, making delicate strokes with his finger to smudge the line he had just drawn into what looked like the beginning of body of water of a foggy day. Roy stood up and moved to sit beside Marth; that way, he wasn't working upside down. Roy began to add a swirl of fiery-coloured clouds, staring from the top-right hand corner of the paper and making their way diagonally to the bottom-left. He was careful not to touch or disturb what Marth was drawing, but eventually their paths crossed.

"Go ahead," Marth said, pulling away from his drawing.

"No, you go on… I think I'll stop there, anyway."

"… I think it would look better if you kept going…"

"You think so… ?"

"Yeah. That way, the red and blue will contrast each other, and then end up mixing."

"All right," Roy said, loading his brush with paint again, and leaning the blue-haired boy over to continue his painting, feeling himself heat up again. He made the clouds trail off into the water of Marth's pastel, dragging the orange and red paint over the surface of the water to give the illusion of a sunset reflecting off of it. The redhead stood back to see if his swirls turned out right, tapping the tip of the wooden part of the paintbrush he was holding against his lip. "Perfect," Marth muttered.

"Alright guys, there are about ten minutes left; start cleaning up." Ms. Valyko said eventually. The entire art class immediately started bringing their art materials back into the storage room. Marth returned to Roy's side after returned the paint and pastels, and began packing his bag. Roy did the same, still red and flushed.

"… are you alright, Roy? Your face is all red…"

"Um… yeah, I'm fine. Nothing that a little rest can't fix…"

The final bell rang and all at once, the entire school exited their last period classrooms. Roy looked back at the table he was sitting at to make sure he didn't forget anything, and noticed a sheet of paper that looked like it had bars of music printed on it laying on the desk. He stopped and walked back over to the table and examined the piece of paper. Its title was "Your Song" and had "Elton John" right under the heading. "Marth Lowell" was written in the top-right corner of the page in slanted, thing letters. Roy took the piece of paper with him and quickly ran out the door, his head craning about to see if he could catch the owner of the piece of music. But Marth's blue hair was nowhere to be found, and Roy was almost disappointed that he couldn't play the hero. He resolved to keep the paper until tomorrow. That way, it would at least be prevented from getting sucked into the black hole that was art class.

Roy walked down a level to his locker and opened it for the third time that day. He traded his books again, taking only the textbooks that contained homework in them. He took home his sketchbook and guitar- they were used on a regular basis- and shut the door to his locker again.

"Royyyy-skieeeeees." Lilina wrapped her arms around Roy's neck, falling into her boyfriend lightly. Roy returned her hug, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist. She stepped closer to Roy and looked up at him. "I'll see you tomorrow… I have to go catch my bus, or my dad will have my head."

"I know. Heck, he'd probably have mine too." Roy said, laughing softly.

"Bye, Roy… I'll talk to you tomorrow."

With that, Lilina made herself as tall as she could and gave Roy a quick, chaste kiss. It was always like this; Lilina would come to his locker everyday after school to say a final goodbye. When most students would say, 'talk to you later', Lilina was a different story. In order to keep on top of her schoolwork, she wouldn't let herself use the phone unless it was related to school, and she didn't even have her own e-mail address; her father was too protective over her. So there was no talking to Lilina after school, not even to her boyfriend. The kiss was also always the same- quick, innocent and completely pure-minded. Whenever Roy tried to deepen it, Lilina would pull away abruptly. The redhead released his girlfriend. Lilina took a step away from him, turned on her heel, and with a quick look over her shoulder, she waved and pushed through the doors at the end of the hallway to go home.

Roy didn't even bother waiting for Link this time; he knew that the blonde was on his way to Zelda's house, and then to the cemetery to watch Sheik and Zelda's photoshoot. Roy walked over to the other end of the school, figuring that he should relish the warmth of the inside of the building as much as he could before he started his fifteen-minute walk home. He dug around in his bag and retrieved a pair of headphones that his dad gave him, slipping them over his ears. They were slightly oversized and designed to block out the noise that would interfere with the music he was listening to. He rummaged around a bit further into his bag and finally found the MP3 player his headphones were connected to, feeling around the small unit for the play button. He found it, and as he pushed though the school's door, he was hit by a gust of icy wind as well as the loud melody resonating from his headphones.


	3. Chapter 3: Melted Ice

b SYMPHONIES SCREAMED /b into Roy's ears as he walked home, the cold pre-winter wind nipping annoyingly at his cheeks. The redhead mouthed along with the lyrics that poured out of his headphones, electric guitars making harmonies that ran consistently in the foreground of the song. He was three-quarters of the way home already and hadn't run into anything that would slow him down; he considered this quick progress. He vaguely wondered what classes his newfound art partner had; Roy wanted to return Marth's sheet of music as soon as possible. The guitarist's lightheadedness returned at the thought of him, at which he furrowed his brow to try and rid himself of it.

A sudden gust of wind tousled his red locks of hair, pushing it back from his forehead as if to extinguish its flame. The boy braced himself against it and felt his hood get pressed up against the back of his head while the flap of his messenger bag smacked his lower back. Roy cursed the weather, waiting for the wind to die down before pulling his hood up in an effort to maintain any body heat that the cold hadn't stolen away.

A few minutes later, Roy had stopped at a crossing as cars whizzed past him, lacking in number. As he waited for the lights to turn red and halt the minimal flow of traffic, another person arrived and stood to the left of the boy. Roy glanced over curiously for a brief moment, seeing that the person's figure was drenched in a long black coat, accented by a blue and black striped scarf and blue gloves. The stranger's hair was getting wisped around by the wind, who apparently enjoying teasing his… blue hair…

The redhead took a double-take after realizing that this stranger was familiar.

"Marth?"

The boy looked over at the mention of his name, and Roy saw his lips twist into his signature, almost non-existent smile.

"Oh… hello…" The bluenette said quietly.

"Where are you headed?"

"Home," Marth said, nodding in the same direction Roy's house was.

"Same here. Do you wanna go my way?"  
"Sure," Marth replied almost nonchalantly, and Roy's forwardness was discouraged by Marth's attitude.

"… if you really don't want to, you can just tell me."

"Ah, no, it's not that. I've just… I'm used to walking home alone, that's all. It'll be different having someone to walk home with."

"Oh… well, you have me now!" Roy said, grinning and chuckling softly. "I'll always be here to walk with you as long as it's alright with you. Meeting new people is fun! … for me, anyway."

Marth smiled again, wider this time, and more sincere looking. "Thanks, Roy."

The pair continued their journeys home, with Roy trying his best to make conversation so that Marth wouldn't get too bored and they would both be entertained and distracted from the wind that continued chilling them to the bone.

"So, what subjects do you have this semester?"

"Um… English, math, vocal, and art."

"In that order?"  
Marth nodded and Roy went on trying to keep up the flow of dialogue. He talked about his English teacher and the books he forced himself to read for class, and about his plan to take art every year until the end of high school. Their topic of conversation veered from subjects and semesters to friends and classmates, and finally to anything either of them could think of.

"… how about your birthday? When is that?" Roy said, now so completely interested in the boy walking beside him that the bitter chill won over none of his attention.

"It's in February…"

"Aw, you're older than me… mine's in October…"

"Hey, Marth," Roy began, "did you always go to our school?"

"No," Marth replied, looking over at the shorter teen. "I was home schooled until about grade six. Both my parents are presidents of a large, global company that deals with the… media or something. I've lost track of what it is exactly that they do. But when I was about to start elementary school, my mother needed to go to England to sort out some things there. After a year or so of her supervision, we left for Germany, so that my father could take the reigns of the projects in THAT country… so… basically, we were country-hopping in Europe until the middle of sixth grade. Then they threw me into public school and bought a house in this neighborhood. My sister had to go through the same thing, but she was only a year older than me…"

"Ah… so it's no wonder I haven't seen you around the neighborhood…"

"Hm, I guess. I assume you've been going to the same high school since you started?"

The redhead nodded. "My mom and dad both went there too… so it was sort of set in stone the day I was born. … soooo…" Roy began, looking up at Marth with a sly smirk. "Have you found a girlfriend yet?"

Marth returned Roy's smirk with his own, laughing softly and looking down at Roy.

"I don't swing that way."

The blue-haired teen watched Roy's eyes widen and his eyebrows raise. Marth's wise grin stayed plastered on his face, even as he looked away from the redhead to the path in front of him. The shorter boy, a few moments later, shifted his gaze forward as well, feeling an embarrassed blush creep up to his wind-teased cheeks.

"……… you know… I never would have guessed that."

"I understand if it's too weird for you to talk to me anymore after this. God knows I've had my share of lost friendships."

"No! I mean, I don't mind. I support… people like you. I just… it- it was surprising."

Silence fell over the two friends as they continued walking, with Roy trying to figure out what to say next and Marth waiting for the redhead to start another conversation.

"… awkward silences suck." Roy said, finally.

"Yeah. They kind of do." The two boys laughed, and before either of them noticed, they stood at a fork in the street, and both started walking separate ways. The two teens stopped once they noticed the absence of a companion.

"Ah, right. I'm on Hilltop… so… see you." Marth said, over his shoulder.

"… I'm on Cornwall. I'll see you tomorrow, Marth!"

Roy and Marth continued walking down the sidewalk, now heading separate ways. Roy knew for a fact that Hilltop Crescent was within easy walking distance from his house, and absently put that fact in the back of his mind so that he would remember it if he even needed to head over to Marth's house. As he walked, Roy went over the events of the day, recollecting everything Marth had told him on their way home, and randomly challenging himself to see if we could remember his friend's schedule by heart. English… math… vocal—

"Ah, Marth! Wait!!" Roy spun on his heel quickly to see Marth's black-clad figure come to a halt and turn around, his scarf and hair twirling around him with the same grace the boy carried. The redhead quickly sprinted over to him and started digging through his bag. "I found this in art class… ugh, where is it… and I picked it up so that… you wouldn't lose it… ah! There you are, you little jerk…" Roy withdrew a piece of paper from his bag, stood up, and handed it to the patiently waiting boy.

"Oh… I definitely thought I had lost this for good! Thank you… Roy." Marth smiled sincerely for the second time over at the redhead, clutching the piece of paper in his hand. Roy felt his body warm up again, his head suddenly heavy; and as he smiled back, he swayed forward, losing his footing.

"R-Roy?" Marth said quietly, his hands now on Roy's upper arms, supported his weight.

"Ah… s-sorry," Roy said, noticing that he was now leaning face-first against Marth's chest. "I… don't know what's wrong with me today." The boy quickly regained his composure, lifting himself from Marth and trying to hide his embarrassment.

"You should go home quickly… I think you may have a fever…" The bluenette said softly, brushing the back of his hand over Roy's forehead, checking his temperature.

"Ah… yeah… I guess... I'll see you tomorrow."

"Well, don't go to school if you're sick…"

"I'll be fine." Roy said with a quick smile, turning to walk towards his house.

Marth watched him for a moment to make sure his friend didn't collapse in the middle of the street, and then continued on his way home. It took him a good ten minutes to get to his house, as he was patiently walking along the sidewalk, not caring his hasten his pace. The roar of the wind filled his ears, and he slipped his left hand into his pocket; his right still gripped his sheet music in it. He sighed softly, absentmindedly thinking about the boy he has just spent the last twenty minutes with. He had noticed that Roy was unusually warm when they made contact with each other, and how his friendly, open demeanor somehow fit his temperature.

Marth, on the other hand, had always been cold; quick to judge and reject, and he seldom opened up to anyone. Marth had concluded a while ago that he was afraid of being hurt. He had already experienced enough scarring, as none of his relationships lasted for more than a week long, and gradually, he felt himself pushing away the world. With his now-frigid personality, it was as if he was encased in a chamber of ice. His coldness was reflected in his body temperature; anyone who came in contact with him always asked him why he was so cold, and he was, in a way, completely the opposite from Roy.

And Marth was definitely impressed with the younger boy, as he was the only one who had been persistent enough to weld a hole in Marth's ice barrier.


	4. Chapter 4: Home Sweet Home

**ROY STRODE OVER THE THRESHOLD**, greeted by a current of warm air that carried the nearly spicy scent of his abode with it. He shut the door behind him, defending the warm innards of his home with the heavy front door. He slipped off his tried and true green Converses and lazily climbed the tightly spiralling staircase up to his second-floor room. He dragged himself onto the carpeted floor before dumping his too-heavy messenger on his leather couch and massaged his right shoulder; carrying a bag back and forth that was half your weight for eight hours every day took its toll on you quicker than anticipated. He walked, still soothing his sore shoulder, to the closed door of his parents' bedroom. He ceased his motion; dropping one had to turn the knob of the salmon pink door. Roy had only cracked open the entrance enough to peek inside when he saw his mother, in all her gracefulness, asleep in the queen-sized bed. The redhead quickly backed away so as not to disturb her, and silently shut the door again. He retraced his path, back into his room, and collapsed into his worn computer chair.

The redhead let out an exhausted sigh, resting his head on the back of his chair, and staring up at the popcorn ceiling above him. He let his eyes slide closed and lifted his hand up to his forehead, feeling his unusually high body temperature, even for the naturally hot-blooded boy.

"Marth must have been right," Roy thought, standing up to raid the cupboard for Advil. "I think I have a fever…"

Easily swallowing the gel-coated pill without the aid of liquid, the teen set his alarm lock to wake him in a couple of hours. He then swiftly stripped down to his boxers, and piled numerous blankets onto his mattress to help him sweat his fever out before climbing under them. His radio, which was almost always softly playing from his nightstand, was playing a soft song full of angst about love. Roy briefly recalled Marth, and the light-headedness he felt around the older boy. He blamed his reactions towards the icy youth on his fever, which was obviously exhausting him to such an extent that it even made him think he actually had a crush on his new friend. With that final thought accompanied by a long, hard yawn, Roy shut his eyes and eventually drifted off to sleep.

It was 5:40 when Roy finally woke up, only after nearly smashing the snooze bar on his alarm clock into oblivion. He got up and re-dressed in a pair of loose red sweatpants and a t-shirt, his half-lidded eyes somehow matching his matted hair. He walked back to his computer, kicking it into a slow and laborious start, and deciding that the remedy for a fever was definitely sleep. He yawned, wiping the last bit of sleep from eyes as his monitor flickered to a boot up screen. The redhead knew for a fact that his computer, being as old as it was, took a while to load, and glanced around for something else to do to entertain himself while he was waiting.

His azure eyes settled on his guitar case, and he leaned towards it to retrieve the acoustic guitar that lay inside. He tugged the light instrument into his lap and ran his slim fingers along the frets, pulling them into a quiet rendition of Coldplay's _God Put a Smile on Your Face_. He was careful not to strum too hard in fear of waking his mother, but he played loud enough to hear himself. His eyes flicked up to pass over the computer screen occasionally, checking the status of it's loading. He lazily flipped between songs, imagining the rhythm Link provided, backing his lead with percussion, and the smooth voice of an anonymous singer that rang in his mind. He was soon whispering backup vocals as they came, and finally, he glanced up to meet a login screen.

With practiced speed, Roy typed in his password, the generic characters lagging, showing up slower than Roy had pushed the keys. He hit the enter button and went back to his guitar, almost perfectly playing the introduction of Heart's _Crazy on You_ while his desktop took it's time loading. Icons were soon slowly populating his computer screen, and the MSN login window had appeared once Roy finished playing through half of the song. He hit enter again, and his PC hummed into a connection with the internet.

In the hours from 6:00 to 8:00, the flame-haired youth had quickly finished his homework and was now Googling guitar tabs. His mother had woken up half an hour ago, rambled on about how late it had gotten, how Eliwood would be home soon, and shuffled downstairs. Roy promised to be down soon to help her, and was about to carry out said promise when the phone rang.

"Hello?"  
"Royskieeeeeees,"  
"Hi Link."  
"Damnit. I was sure you'd think it was Lilina."  
"Lilina like, never uses the phone."  
"… true."  
"So, how was the photoshoot?"  
There was a shuddering exhale of breath and Roy assumed that it was overly good. "That good, hu-"  
"Do you know that Zelda looks beautiful in the sun?"  
"Jesus, Link."  
"It's true! Her hair catches the sun so well that it looks like a complete different shade of blonde, and… and the tips of her hair get all absorbed by the sunlight and… she looks like she has a halo… oh Roy… she's so beautiful!"  
"… okay Link."  
"And Sheik had her in this dress- because the assignment was to mimic a music video- and… the dress was all flowy and ratty- but not THAT ratty, like, rags ratty… you know the video for "My Immortal" by Evanescence? Yeah, that dress… and they went to the cemetery and… and she sort of… draped herself over the tombstones and- and Sheik just kept on looking at me with these sly and knowing eyes… the kid is kind of an ass sometimes- and--"  
"LINK. BOYFRIEND. I HAVE ONE."  
"Yeah, I- WHAT!?"  
"I said I have a girlfriend!"  
"… you said boyfriend, Roy."  
"I did not."  
"You did."  
"Did I?"  
"Yes."  
"… well, I meant girlfriend."  
"Is there something you need to tell me, Roy?"  
"……… no."  
"Really? Are you sure?"  
"… yes! Stop interrogating me."  
"All right, fine…"

There was an awkward silence on both ends of the phone call. Roy questioned himself, examining what he had said. A boyfriend? He had never really found another boy attractive… and he was sure he was straight. As he went through the events of the day, he remembered Marth, and his perfectly pale complexion, framed by that wispy hair-

"Roy? Rooooooy… I can hear you breathing! You can't get rid of me that easily! Wait, do you WANT to get rid of me? Oh, I'm offended."  
"Hn? What?"  
"You zoned out on me."  
"Sorry. I got distracted by… Solitaire."  
"Whatever you say, Roy Boy. So… have you talked to Lilina yet?"  
"About…"  
"About… you know. Breaking up."  
"Link!"  
"Hey, I'm just saying! You were adorable together at graduation, but when she want to Italy last year in grade nine… she came back and-"  
"I know. Studious and work-centered."  
"Exactly. Before, you couldn't go out on an _actual_ date because of her dad. But now…"  
"I know, Link. I know." Roy said quietly, immersed in his own thoughts.

They were both silent for a few moments; the only sounds that could be heard came from Roy's overly exuberant whirring computer and whatever video game Link was playing.

Roy, finding himself again, sighed softly to himself before telling Link that he would call back later. The redhead decided that he had kept his mother waiting long enough, and plodded down the stairs. He unlocked the door upon passing it like he usually did, spun on his heel, and walked into the kitchen. Roy's mother was stirring a pan of furiously sizzling onions on the stove when Roy heard the front door open behind him. Eliwood, Roy's father, entered the house, camera dangling from his neck, setting down a pair of worn black bags at the foot of the stairs. Roy, who was now emptying a package of spaghetti into a pot of boiling water, yelled a greeting to his father over his shoulder.

Eliwood drove to work every morning, and was sent somewhere different almost every day; his job as a freelance photographer and journalist had taken him all over the city, and on rare occasions, out of the country or even overseas. His ambition was to do as much as he could before he got too old, resulting in several career changes. Fortunately, Eliwood enjoyed and excelled in all those jobs, being a well-rounded individual. Roy had aspired to be like his father for as long as he could remember and often listened to the many stories that he told him. Roy had inherited his father's hair along with his patient, adventurous, noble, and sometimes sacrificial personality. He had inherited the shape of his face and his eyes from his mother, causing him to have a slightly feminine look, and the colour of his eyes from his father. Roy's creativity mostly came from Ninian, his mother. Before meeting Eliwood, she worked as a dance teacher, and currently taught private music lessons. She had a certain "flow" to her, and moved with the same grace that the wind carried. She had secretly hoped that her baby's hair would be a light blue like hers, but she was even more pleased with the outcome of his eyes.

They were shy and demure, but always looked alert, darting around whenever Roy felt threatened. His optics sparkled when he was truly happy, and seemed to grow darker when he was angry or depressed. Roy's eyes were never a single shade of blue. They showed a range of cerulean to a navy blue from the centre, gradating so quickly that it was impossible to tell their true colour.

Eliwood entered the kitchen, kissing Ninian on the cheek. "Hello, my love," he said before turning to Roy and ruffling his hair. "And how are you, Pyro?"  
Roy glared jokingly up at his father, who still had his hand on Roy's head and a wide grin on his face, flattening his hair just to spite him. Roy shooed his hand away and messed up his hair again, rapidly running both his hands through it.

"Hey, I haven't managed to burn _anything_ today!"

A small, surprised squeal came from Ninian, who was trying to remove a piece of flaming spaghetti on the burner without burning herself.

"…… I take that back."

Roy had always hated dinner talk. He had learned from Lilina on numerous occasions in the cafeteria that keeping up a pleasant conversation during meals was polite, but when it came to tonight's dinner dialogue, he found that he would much rather be sitting in awkward silence across from Marth. At least the bluenette wouldn't have been interrogating him.

The redhead was intently focused on watching bubbles form in his glass of club soda as he answered the string of his parents' questions. How the conversation had landed on him he was unsure, as he had started thinking about something completely different as his mother and father talked about a trouble student that Ninian was dealing with.

"Meet anyone new today?" Eliwood asked the same repetitive question he did every night, idly spinning spaghetti onto his fork.  
"Um… well, he got this new guy switched into our art class…" Roy answered, still focused on the tiny bubbles that were now surfacing in his glass.  
" 'New Guy'? I hope you're not teasing him about that, Roy…" Ninian said in a cautious voice, leaning against the back of her chair in a relaxed position, finished with her share of food.  
"I'm not, Mom… I got paired up with him for this art assignment, though."  
"What's he like?" Ninian asked, interested in his son's new friend.  
"Well… he lives on Hilltop Crescent. And he… usually doesn't talk much." Roy continued, trying to recall the aspects of his conversation with his art partner. "But we walked home together and talked a lot on the way. He's a singer. And he says that his parents aren't around very much. You'll probably meet him eventually, because I think we're going to have to get together to finish our art assignment…"  
"Ooh!" Ninian exclaimed happily, "Invite him over for dinner! Then we get to interrogate him, too!"  
"That's what I was afraid of…" Roy said with a smirk, causing him mother to flick him lightly against his temple. Eliwood excused himself to answer a call on his cell phone, leaving his wife and son to converse.

"So, what's the assignment, Roy?"  
"It's just… this dream-like scene. I think it's supposed to just get your ideas flowing and out onto paper."  
"How's it going?"  
"Fine," Roy shrugged. "We haven't gotten very far yet, though."  
"Don't worry. I'm sure your teacher will still accept the assignment even if it's late; she's very laid-back. So, anything else about your friend? I don't have a name or anything, even. Does he have a girlfriend?"  
"His name is Marth. And he… he's gay."  
"Really!" Ninian said, surprised. "… is he cute?"  
"How should I know, mom…?"  
"Oh, I'm sure you have an opinion. Even your father does."  
"But you told me that dad and Lilina's dad dated once…"  
"They did," Ninian answered with a certain nod.  
"Doesn't that mean dad… goes both ways, then?"  
"So?"  
"Well… I don't!"  
"You probably just haven't realized it yet."  
"Mom!"  
"I'm just saying! Genetics and all, I mean."

With that, Ninian stood up and started to clear the table, with dutifully Roy following her lead. As Ninian stored leftovers in the fridge, Roy travelled back and forth between the kitchen and dining room, delivering dirty dishes from the latter to the former. He vaguely wondered what his mother thought about Marth, and then realized that she had slight suspicions about Roy's sexuality. That wouldn't do, he thought, as he made a mental note to talk about Marth less often. It soon dawned on him that Ms. Valyko _loved_ playing a subtle matchmaker with her students…

"HAHA. She put you and him together?! Oh you're practically destined to end up together now, Roy. Just accept it." Roy, after finishing helping his mother with the dishes, had called his best friend back as he promised; he quickly found that it might have not been such a wonderful idea after all.  
"Link… how important is the whole GIRLFRIEND factor in your little "Roy is gay" theory?"  
"Not very."  
"That's what I thought…"  
"Bah! You'll realize your undying love for Marth sooner or later. I have to meet this kid. Introduce us tomorrow, will you, Royskies?"  
"No."  
"Why not!?"  
"Because you'll tell him that I'm gay and cause problems or something. And you'll get on his nerves. He's got such an icy personality that you'd just annoy the hell out of him."  
"I would not!"  
"Link, who knows him better?"  
"You… awww! You're SO cute together!"  
"You haven't even _met_ him! How can you be… ugh. Just drop it Link, seriously."  
"But it's fun teasing you."  
"Alright, look. I have a girlfriend. You might not have noticed, her name is Lilin-"  
"And you're going to break up with her soon."  
"You don't know that!!"  
"Oh ho ho, but I do, Roy. I do."  
"… her NAME is Lilina. And I……… love her."  
"Roy… in all honesty, I don't think you do. Your voice was practically dripping with the fact that you're lying to yourself."  
"Okay, okay. That's… that's your opinion. I'm going go to sleep where you and your headache-inflicting logic can't reach me."  
"Night, Royskies."  
"Stop calling me thaaaat…"  
"No way, Royskies."

With a frustrated sigh and an eyeroll that remained unseen by the blonde on the other end of the line, Roy hung up and began shutting everything in his room off. He powered down his computer and disconnected his MP3 player, then shut off the Gamecube that had been on for God knows how long, doomed to loop the music at the Super Smash Bros. Melee Menu Screen for days on end. He lastly packed all of his schoolbooks back into his bag, set his alarm clock, and shut his light off on his way out of his room.

The redhead wandered into the second-floor bathroom, flicking on the light and catching his reflection in the mirror. He ran a hand through his hair, noting that it took on more of an auburn colour than a crimson one when there was no sun to bleach it to a lighter colour. He quickly brushed his teeth, staring at his reflection as he did so, and looking into his own blue eyes. He knew many people with the same eye colour, he thought as he made his way back to his room. Link had blue eyes, and so did Lilina and her sister Thany, Pit, and Marth. The redhead's thoughts dwelled on the older boy for a while, and he was reminded of the fact that he would have to spend the next day- at least- by his side finishing their art assignment. Roy's eyelids were growing heavier by the minute as he lay on his side, nestled under his blankets, listening to his radio and staring into one of the dark corners of his room. His thoughts spun and juggled topics, and finally landed on Lilina. Did she feel the same way he did? Was she thinking about the same thing he was right now? Were they really destined to break up? He didn't want to admit it, but Link was right- Ms. Valyko played a cruel game of matchmaker, and most of the students she placed in partners ended up together.

Roy decided that things would eventually work themselves out as always, and he finally let himself drift into the embrace of sleep.


	5. Chapter 5: Meeting Marth

A/N: OKAY SO YEAH. It's been half a year and this chapter does NOT make up for that at all. D: M'sorryy...

Last chapter we had a glance into Roy's homelife and the way he acts around family and friends. Here, we learn the same thing about Marth. I THOUGHT IT WAS NECESSARY. D: MARTH NEEDS LOVE TOO.

Even though he should be getting enough of it in Brawl now that he's left my little Royskies behind kjasnfkfjkbnadgj he's going to get it. -sigh-

Enjoy, everyone!

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Throughout his life, Marth was laden with a variety of labels, but one that was never placed into the roster was "morning person". Biologically speaking, humans require around six to eight hours of sleep every night to be able to function at the peak of their abilities. Marth apparently loved defying this recommendation, as his late nights and forced-early mornings resulted in minimal amounts of sleep and consistent doses of caffeine.

In all honesty, the bluenette hated the morning. 75 percent of the year, he would wake up knowing that another day would have to be braved before he could cocoon himself in the soft, safe embrace of his bed once more. He hated waking and noticing that his hair was matted and tangled from tossing during the night. He hated feeling the sun fall onto his cool face, blazing through his eyelids as if looking for attention when there was a perfectly good shadow covering him instead. And he hated leaving the comfortable relaxation of his aforementioned bed. This morning was no different.

Marth woke up around 6:45am to the sound of patterned water spilling from the showerhead in the second-floor bathroom and hitting the ceramic bottom of the bathtub. Somehow, Ellice was always awake before him, no matter how early he set his alarm to sound. He cursed to himself under his breath, knowing that it would be a good twenty minutes before his older sister concluded her shower; a twenty minutes of sitting around in his tangled, half-awake, generally disgusting-feeling state. The bluenette opted to lie peacefully under his thin linen sheets until that time passed. He allowed his eyes to slide closed again, letting himself listen to the steady rhythm of water as he slipped into a feeling of serenity. However, his newfound peace was soon shred by long, thin strands of off-key notes and broken lyrics. Ellice was singing in the shower again. Marth, irritated, groaned softly and rolled grudgingly out of his bed. He snatched a stray t-shirt that lay draped over the arm of a chair and strolled down the stairs in an attempt to escape the caterwauling of his sister.

The groggy teen made his way through the bottom floor of his expansive house, sliding his shirt onto his currently bare torso and padding barefoot into the kitchen. He yawned long and hard, blinking the teary remnants of the action away, hoping to blink away his sleepy stupor as well. With one hand, he drew the door of the refrigerator open, and began tugging at the waistband of his boxers with the other, adjusting them from their twisted position so they sat comfortably on his hips. From inside the cold depths of the appliance, Marth withdrew a previously brewed mug of coffee and carefully placed it into the microwave overhead to heat up. As the hum of the machine wavered, Marth slid his pale hand along the marble countertop and over to a black radio that sat against the corner of the wall; its bright red digital face read 6:51am. He flicked it on and wandered to sit on the wooden table that lay on the other side of the counter, swinging his feet up to rest on one of the chairs.

_Wipe that tear away now from your eye_

_Slowly walking down the hall,_

_Faster than a cannonball_

_Where were you while we were getting high..._

The teenager sighed in relief, subconsciously whispering along with the lyrics.

_Someday you will find me_

_Caught beneath the landslide_

_In a champagne supernova in the sky..._

Marth rose and retraced his path back to the microwave upon hearing its three chirping beeps, taking his now-warmed coffee out of the machine and following it with a long swig of the liquid. He sighed, letting out a warm breath of air as the radio stopped its melodic crooning to blurt out advertisements.

By the time he finished his coffee, Ellice had finished her shower and Marth could hear her descending the staircase. The cobalt-haired boy stood again, empty mug dangling dangerously from his curved index finger. As the next song begun with the chords of a piano as an introduction, Marth immediately flinched, breathing out an "Oh, no."

Ellice, in a pair of gym shorts, slippers, and one of her brother's loose-fitting shirts, scuffled into the kitchen, belting out a mangled first line of the song. "One is the loneliest number you'll ever do…"

"Oh Ell, please, it's too early…"

"Two can be as bad as one; it's the loneliest number since the number one…"

"Ell… I don't want to go to school with a headache."

Ellice, in reply, danced over to Marth, her long, still-damp blue hair flicking droplets of water across the boy, who now had his thumb and index finger pinching the bridge of his nose, irritated.

"No is the saddest experience you'll… ever know."

"Okay. I can't take this."

"Yes is th--"

The bluenette suddenly and quickly cut his sister off, covering her voice with his own on-key rendition of the song. Ellice, mock-offended, continued to sing as she glared daggers at Marth. They serenaded in a broken harmony, both siblings fighting to be the louder voice. Eventually, Ellice let herself fade out as Marth continued to sing. "It's just no good anymore since you went awa—can I stop now?"

"But you have such a _pretty_ voice." Ellice whined, drifting over to the fridge, gathering ingredients to make breakfast for the both of them. "I wish I could sing as well as you."

Marth nodded, smiling softly. "Thanks, sis. But it's way too early to be singing- much less dancing around the kitchen. You're way too bouncy."

"That's because_ I_ got sleep, dork. What kept you up last night?"

"Cartoons," He replied, now standing at the sink, placing his empty mug in it. "Really stupid, pointless, useless cartoons." He turned on the faucet, allowing the stream of water it spat out to fill his mug.

"Oh, I get it." The blue-haired girl said softly, leaning against the part of the counter that sat next to the fridge. "There's something on your mind that's wearing on you and the cartoons were just a useless and vain attempt at distracting yourself so it doesn't hurt anymore, hmm?" Ellice's hand flicked over to shut off the tap. Marth glowered at his sister, soon after averting his gaze to fall on the floor; she, in response to Marth's silence, continued. "What's eating you, little brother?"

Ellice Lowell could read people's emotions as easily as reading plain text. She was kind-hearted and loyal; her widely branching network of friends always went to her for advice, or to vent, or simply for another person to talk to. Ellice would willingly listen. She was rarely ever seen as weak, as she took on so many people's problems without faltering. With parents that were out of the country 80 percent of the time, a brother that was left under her care, and dozens of needy friends, Ellice was forced to remain as strong as possible. She had experienced her fair share of broken relationships, stress, and pressure; being the older sibling and caregiver definitely added to her hardships. That was what made her advice genuine and problems so relatable.

The girl peered at Marth, blue hair framing her face and tumbling past her shoulders, occasionally dripping cold water onto the tiled floor of the kitchen. Marth blinked back at her, searching identical blue eyes as he chose his words. "Nothing. School's stressing me out, that's all. The carnival is coming up soon and I'm meant to organize it. On top of that, I'm supposed to have a partner to help out, but no one is brave enough to help me. Plus I don't have any people at school that are close enough to me that I would feel comfortable asking…" The cobalt haired youth railed off and took a deep breath. "Just… a lot's happening."

"Mhm. You'll pull through it, I know you're strong. Even if you have to tackle more than your share of work, I can always help you with organization and planning, alright? Please, Marth. Come to me if you need help. And I'm sure you'll find someone to help you soon. Didn't you just transfer into an art class? Maybe someone can help you there." Ellice watched as her brother nodded silently again, and hesitantly continued. "And… what about… you know… Wolt?"

Marth flinched slightly, shoulders sagging in his previously straight, upright stance. He shook his head slowly. "I've… mostly forgotten about him."

"Sorry if I'm bringing up bad memories. But you… were pretty hurt," Ellice turned quietly, her back to her the boy, leaning slightly over the stove to turn the front most burner on. She could hear Marth's feet turn and begin walking away.

"I thought I loved him," He said from the foot of the stairs. "Of course it hurt." Marth ascended the staircase and headed into the bathroom, which was still steamy from Ellice's shower. The girl in question, sighing softly in worry, watched the empty spot at the top of the stairs as if Marth was going to emerge again as happy as he was four years ago, with his playful, boyish attitude and bright smile. "It's just been one thing after another, huh, Marth?" The eldest child of the Lowells cooked breakfast as the younger dwelled on his thoughts beneath an icy rain of water.

Marth's life had always been unstable; its erratic beats conflicted Marth's naturally rhythmic nature. His parents would arrive at home from business trips and a fourteen-hour flight- exhausted every time- and barely have enough time to unpack before they were called away again. He did not have a long-term friend that he could speak to on a regular basis. Almost all the relationships he had encountered would inevitably end on a muddy note, where Marth would question whether or not the friendship was ever there to begin with. Whenever the boy began to warm up to people, they would begin to drift away; Marth remained under the impression that he must have done something wrong and opted to freeze himself over completely again. With this constant loop: Marth's iciness melting away only to be established again soon after, he forgot how to warm up at all. The warmth of friendship- of true happiness- was numbed and muted.

Marth stepped out of the shower twenty minutes later, cold water dripping quickly from his pale skin and scurrying along the slight curves of his body. He scrubbed his hair into a dishevelled and messy dampness before wrapped the same towel around his waist. He slipped out of the bathroom and into his bedroom just as fast. There, he shut the door behind him and discarded the towel by flinging it onto the back of the chair that sat in his room, rummaging through his drawers to clothe his naked body.

At 7:30am, the bluenette stood ready at the front door, wearing jeans that hung low on his hips, revealing the thin line of waistband on his canary yellow boxers, which the boy was trying to hide in vain. He sighed in frustration, checking the time on his cell phone, watching as the digital numbers shifted to show 7:32am. He heard Ellice thundering down the stairs; knowing that he would be at school earlier gave him relief. Marth had never been one to rush.

As the siblings met, Ellice's eyes fell on Marth's left hand, whose index finger was curled around one of his empty belt loops, still attempting to try and hide his boxers.

"You're making them short on the bottom," Ellice said, scrunching her nose in disgust. "Stop that."

Marth promptly stopped holding onto the denim, and Ellice nodded in approval, turning to the closet next to the door and throwing it open so hard that Marth jumped at the sound it made.

"But… it's my underwear." Marth said sheepishly.

"Calm down. It just looks like another layer under your hoodie." Marth shrugged in defeat as Ellice threw him a woollen scarf that she pulled from the closet and fumbled with the buttons on her sweater as she walked out the door, starting down the paved walkway. In an act of dexterity, Marth threw his scarf properly around the collar of his turtleneck, walking backwards out the door that Ellice had left open, pulling it closed with his foot and finally locking it. It was only a few strides before Marth and Ellice walked beside each other, the younger of the pair zipping up the green hoodie he wore. Both siblings inhaled as icy breath of cool autumn air and slowly exhaled, enjoying the crisp feeling of the season and relaxing themselves on the short walk to the subway station.

Marth departed the train at 7:45am, walking up the grimy stairs to normal ground level again after uttering a short goodbye to his sister, who continued along the route to university. Relieved of conversation, the boy turned the volume on his iPod up, earphones rattling slightly with bass in the caverns of his ears. He continued up to the main entrance of his school, his path lined by slowly balding autumn coloured trees. Students passed him, giggling with each other and discussing the latest gossip. Marth held close to his tradition: keeping to himself, with the wind wiping his cheeks and chilling his already cold flesh. He was silent and kept his blue-haired head bowed, walking in time with the music until a quick two successive taps to the shoulder interrupted his rhythm. A blur of red infected his vision, and when he trained his eyes on the colour, Roy came into focus, skidding along beside him on rollerblades.

"Marth!" He said with a bright smile, causing Marth to falter for a brief moment in his smooth strides. He pulled on the wire of his headphones, tugging one white bud out of his ear.

"Hi, Roy," Marth answered, voice calm and composed. "How are you?"

"Alright," The younger boy replied, his strides relaxed and lengthened. "Um…" Roy's blue eyes rolled up to stare into the clouds. "Just so you know, you don't need to be so… formal. Not that I mind or anything! I mean, it's a nice change from Link, but…" Roy's eyes glanced into the taller boy's, the height difference not as great with Roy standing on 2-inch wheels. "You can… relax around me."

"Alright. I'll keep that in mind."

"Look, you're doing it again!"

"… sorry."

Roy chuckled and took a sudden, longer stride, turning on his back wheels and skating backwards in front of Marth. "So… today… are you doing anything different?" The redhead, despising silence, struggled to make conversation with the seemingly uninterested boy, who let escape his staple, practiced answer: "No."

"Ah." Roy said simply. Marth immediately regretted his answer as he witnessed the conversation grow static. He didn't have a clue as to why he had lied to Roy; in truth, Marth had to attend a student council meeting after school. Finally remembering that Roy may be interested in helping him prepare for the upcoming school event, Marth quickly rebutted.

"… actually, I've got a meeting after school. I just remembered."

"Oh. Well, I don't have much to do after class, so… do you mind if I keep you company?" At Roy's words, Marth's face remained stoic and expressionless, the smaller boy peering innocently up at him.

"If you like." Marth's gaze stayed fixed dead ahead of him and his voice did not waver in tone. Generally, Marth seemed not to care that he had filled the empty void of well-missed company, or now had a person who was open with him and could be open with in return.

But in reality, Marth's usually cold face grew the smallest bit warmer as he smiled inwardly.

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A/N: Haah, their first moment! Funtimes. Sorry about how short this is, I'll try to make them longer...  
R&R please! D  
... and those lyrics are "Chempagne Supernova" by Oasis. Totally not mine.


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